Explanation:
It was along the way.
The
robotic rover
Opportunity currently rolling across the
Meridiani Plain
on Mars has a destination of
Endeavour Crater,
a large crater over 20 kilometers across which may yield additional clues about the cryptic past of ancient Mars.
Besides passing open fields of
dark soil and
light rock,
Opportunity has chanced upon several interesting features.
One such feature, pictured above in a
digitally stitched and horizontally compressed panorama, is Nereus Crater, a small crater about 10 meters across that is
surrounded by jagged rock.
Besides Nereus, Opportunity recently also happened upon another unusual rock -- one that appears to be the
thirdlargemeteorite
found on Mars and the second for Opportunity during only this trip.
Opportunity has been
traveling toward
Endeavour Crater for over a year now, and if it can avoid ridged rocks and
soft sand along the way,
it may reach Endeavour sometime next year.